This invention relates generally to the refurbishment of pile carpet, especially carpet tiles, to provide extended wear life without a detrimental affect on the surroundings due to a reduced aesthetic effect by the existing pile carpet due to dirt and/or matting of the pile on the face of the tile. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for treating the pile face and/or applying a new layer of material to the back surface of a refurbished carpet tile to create a new like appearance for the back surface of the tile.
As described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,381,592 and 5,457,845 hereby incorporated by reference, in the past it has been necessary to replace pile carpet when it became dirty, develops a change in texture in some areas and/or is matted down due to traffic and/or furniture thereon. The replacement of such carpet is expensive due to the price of new carpet and has to be matched to the existing environment. This replacement of carpet, especially carpet tiles, in commercial establishments is an expense which, if it can be avoided, will free up money which can be used for other desirable purposes.
The above described U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,381,592 and 5,457,845 provide a method and apparatus to refurbish cut and loop pile carpet and eliminate the cost of replacement of such tile with new carpet.
In particular, they describe a system wherein pile carpet tiles are refurbished. The invention is directed in general to pile carpet, cut or loop, but is primarily directed to carpet tiles since these are used in commercial establishments and generally receive more wear due to traffic by pedestrians thereon and therefore tend to mat and get dirty quicker than residential carpet. The carpet tiles are usually in 18 inch squares and have pile yarns, cut or loop, like that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,576 hereby incorporated by reference. As shown in FIG. 1, the carpet tiles 10 are treated on cooperating conveyors 12 and 14 but, obviously, one continuous conveyor could be used, if desired.